Days by the Lake

Days By the Lake - A History of the South Melbourne Football Club- by Marc Fiddian

Product details

Paperback: 156 pages

Publisher: Racoon Tail Books (2013)

ISBN: 9780987062574

Trim size: 210 x 148 mm

Synopsis

South Melbourne, one of the oldest suburbs in Melbourne, was among the first to field a football team. From 1877-96 the Victorian Football Association was the controlling body and the Southerners won the premiership five times. Only Geelong was more successful. South Melbourne was then one of the eight clubs that broke away from the VFA to form the VFL. Known as the Swans from 1933 because of the number of players who hailed from Western Australia, the club also was called the Foreign legion because of its widespread recruiting. The 1933 premiership was destined to be the last of the three it won in the VFL. After reaching the Grand Final in 1945, South Melbourne did not play in the finals again until 1970, being a perennial also ran. By the 1980s the VFL was keen to add interstate clubs to its ranks and looked at dumping the least viable financially to make room. South was used to form the Sydney club in 1982 and the days of football followers visiting the Lakeside Oval were finished. Nevertheless, South Melbourne's contribution to the game will not be forgotten.